It is September 1846 and the US garrison at Los Angeles is under siege by Californios. Lt. Archibald Gilespie is in command of no more than 50 men. Fort Moore has no water supply and his ammunition is limited. He needs reinforcements to avoid defeat. John Brown, locally known as Juan Flaco (Spanish for Lean John), volunteers to ride to Monterey to inform Commodore Stockton of the siege. He rides through the Californio lines and is off to the Cahuenga Pass. After a series of fictional challenges, he arrives in Monterey only to discover that Stockton has sailed on to San Francisco. On a fresh horse, he finally delivers the news of the siege, six days after he had left. Stockton orders the USS Savannah to assist Gilespie.
Though Death Valley Days proposes that Juan Flaco saved California by his impressive Paul Revere-like ride, the truth is that it hardly mattered. Gilespie had brought the revolt on himself by imposing martial law on a city of 3,000 when he had such a tiny command. The day Juan Flaco delivered his message, Gilespie surrendered the fort and retreated to San Pedro. The Californios now held Los Angeles. It was not until the California Battalion under Fremont, sailors and marines under Stockton, and dragoons under General Kearny combined forces in January of 1847 that Los Angeles was retaken. John Brown's ride was a marvel in its time but failed to save Gilespie from surrendering to the Californios, the entire point of his ride.
Meh.
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